This Is My Design
by Simply Rexene
Summary: Will graphic designer Namine be able to pull computer programmer Roxas out of his anti-social shell? Let's see what happens after a few drinks at the best bar in town!


**A/N:** Hello everyone! I'm back! So I was really excited to do an AkuNami fic for you guys, but… I already had this RokuNami fic started and I wanted to see where I could take it. Hopefully you like!

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 **Chapter One**

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"Hello… is the the computer fix-it guy?"

Roxas rolled his eyes, "This is the computer tech, yes… do you need help with your system?"

"Yeah… I don't know if I broke something or what, but my computer just totally shut down on me! I tried turning it back on, and then five minutes later it did the same thing!" the female voice on the other end of the phone sounded completely clueless and terrified.

"What department are you in? I'll be up in a few minutes…" he grumbled into the reciever. He hated going to the main floor of the newspaper. His little basement office was comfortable, and most importantly… he was alone.

She actually had to think about it for a moment, but then she giggled, "Oh! I'm in the graphic design department. I almost forgot what my job title was for a second. My name is Namine, I'm the little blonde girl."

"Got it… I'll be up there as soon as I can," he stated before promptly hanging up the phone. He hadn't gotten to the graphic designers yet in his complete overhaul of the newspaper's technology, and he was a little bit afraid of what he might find up there. He knew that they used their computers for some pretty heavy programs like Photoshop and InDesign, so she probably had a ton of problems going on.

After stalling for a few minutes, Roxas knew it was time for him to go check it out. He lifted himself out of his comfortable desk chair and headed to the elevator, ascending to the first floor of one of the top newspaper companies in Twilight Town.

It took him a moment to find the graphic designers… they were tucked into the far corner in a weird little glass cubicle-like room that had them all lining the walls at their desks. Even walking into the room he could tell that they were all a little odd. There were all sorts of drawings and cutouts of famous actors all over the place, and they'd turned one of the empty desks into a fake tiki bar.

After scaring the shit out of himself by making eye contact with a cardboard cutout of Johnny Depp, Roxas immediately spotted the blonde girl sitting at a corner desk staring at a blank screen. "Namine?"

"That's me!" she giggled, spinning to face him in her desk chair. "Hm… are you the new tech guy?"

"Name's Roxas," he introduced himself, extending a hand to her. "Sorry I haven't gotten up here to introduce myself yet. It's been crazy trying to fix all of the horrifying technology in this place."

She shook his hand, her big blue eyes sparkling at him, "Oh it's no problem at all! So… I still have no idea what's wrong with my computer."

"Let me take a look at it…" he said, inspecting her desk. The first problem… her tower was on the ground under the desk where it could just collect all the dirt and grime possible. The second problem… it was probably ten to twelve years old. He pulled it out from the wall and the removable cover on the side just totally fell off without him even touching it, sending a cloud of dust puffing up into his face. "Whoa… all right… I need to get this unhooked and clean it out for starters."

"Clean it? Don't they have fans for that or something?"

Roxas leveled his eyes on her, trying to remember that she was an artist, not a techie. "No… the fans are for keeping the system cool, not keeping it clean. In fact, if they get caked in dust like these ones, it can cause the computer to overheat and shut down like yours has been."

"Oh… so it's just dirty?"

"It's also running ten year old software… but I can fix that after we get it to turn on. C'mon, grab that side panel that fell off and follow me outside so we can clean it," he said, unplugging everything from her tower and lifting it up.

Namine scrambled a little, grabbing the dusty side panel and jogging to catch up with him. "So… why do we have to go outside?"

"Honey, with the dust that's in this thing we'll be lucky if we can breathe right tomorrow. Let's not inflict that on your coworkers," he chuckled a little, heading out of the back door to the employee parking lot. He set the tower down on the sidewalk and turned to her. "I have to go grab a couple cans of compressed air from my office. Stay here and don't let anyone take this, okay?"

She shifted on her feet a little, but nodded, "Okay…"

Roxas returned quickly with the canned air, finding her sitting on the curb in front of the computer looking bored. "All right… you might want to cover your mouth and stand back or something," he said, pulling a dust mask over his face.

"Wait, shouldn't I get a mask? Is this going to kill me?" she freaked out a little, hopping to her feet and backing away.

"Relax… I'm just wearing one so I can get up close and see what I'm doing. You'll be okay if you keep your distance," he told her, starting to blow some of the dust out. It was unbelievable how much dirt and grime had built up on the poor machine. There was no way it had ever been cleaned out before.

Suddenly she was just babbling at him, "So… how old are you? When did you start working here? Is that rude to ask? I mean, you look young enough not to be offended by that…"

"I'm 26… and I started a couple months ago. Like I said, it's been hard to get around to everyone and say hi," he told her, his voice a little muffled under the mask.

"Ooh… I'm 25! How weird is that? I've been working here for like… two years now I think. I dunno. So how long have you been all computery?"

Roxas looked up at her, raising an eyebrow, "I'm not a robot… and I've been working with computers as long as I can remember. How long have you been an artist?"

"Well… since I was able to hold a pencil! But I got really good in high school and then majored in graphic design in college. We're the ones that actually make the paper and the ads look good."

He chuckled, "I know what graphic design is… It's not far off from web design, it just doesn't require any programming."

"Oh yeah… I heard you're building us a website!" she exclaimed, accidentally inhaling some dust and choking a little. "Is it hard to make a website?"

"You have no idea, doll…" he trailed off, remembering the hours of frustration the site was already giving him. "I can't believe it took them this long to commission one. Every other newspaper in the area is online already."

Namine grimaced a little, "Yeah… we definitely lose some business because of that. I'm just glad the boss finally got his head out of his ass and decided to update the entire company."

"And I think your computer is next… what is this even running? Windows Vista?"

"Windows XP…" she mumbled in embarrassment. Even she knew that was a bad thing.

Roxas nearly keeled over, "Oh, honey… Is your whole department working with XP?"

"I think so… Marjorie might have an updated system because her computer crapped out last year. But yeah… they stick us with all the crap."

He chuckled, standing up and brushing himself off, "All right… now that we're all cleaned up and I can get her turned on, I'm going to back up all of your files and find you a new tower."

"Oh my gosh, really? That's amazing!" she squealed, attacking him in a dusty hug. "Thank you, Roxas!"

The taller blond stepped back in surprise, fending her off. "All right… take these cans in for me and I'll get everything updated."

"Sure… hey, Roxas? The girls from my department like to go out drinking every other Friday night. Would you like to join us tonight? It's always super fun and I owe you a couple drinks for updating my computer!" she offered, smiling giddily.

He was taken aback by her offer, but found himself actually considering it. She seemed… mostly normal, and he didn't have plans otherwise. "All right… I'm in. What bar?"

"We're thinking of trying a different bar tonight… it's called Axel's, and it's supposedly the best bar in town. Heard of it?"

Stifling a little laugh, he nodded, "Yeah… I've definitely heard of it."

"Ooh, perfect!" she giggled, fumbling and nearly dropping one of the cans of compressed air on the sidewalk.

"So… that'll explode if you drop it too hard," he warned her, lifting an eyebrow.

She squeaked and clutched them to her chest, her cerulean blue eyes widening.

Roxas followed her inside, hefting the huge computer tower along with him. When he'd started working at the paper he never really expected to make friends. Editors were usually dicks, and everyone else pretty much acted like he was part of the wallpaper. The art department, however… they seemed fairly interesting (if not incredibly weird.) Maybe he would make some friends. Besides, Namine was kind of cute...

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 **A/N:** Kind of off to a slow start, but it's about to pick up quick here. I love making Namine an adorable little dorky artist and having Roxas be a typical computer geek. Computer programmers are so sexy… (And I'm not just saying that because I'm dating one!)

Let me know what you think so far, and what you think is going to happen at the bar. (Hint: It's going to be insane.)

 _Simply Rexene_


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